Honeydukes' Finest
by ark the wanderer
Summary: HBP Missing Moment. Harry tries to give Ginny a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. "Well, he wasn’t sure if he was really going to give it---there was the boyfriend problem, the brother problem, and the she-does-not-like-me-back problem...."


**Honeydukes' Finest**

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HBP Missing Moment. Harry tries to give Ginny a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. But, as he soon finds out, it's not that easy.

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You know you've got it bad for someone when you begin to realize that February 14 is Valentine's Day.

That was exactly what Harry was thinking when he looked at the calendar mounted at the door of the boys' dormitory and his eyes focused, on no will of his own, on the blasted date for about the third time that week. He could not ignore it any longer—the bold number fourteen leaping out of its box and searing his eyes.

The problem was he had no one. Well, there was someone. But she wasn't _his_. But oh, every time his eyes fell on that bold number fourteen, he got this overwhelming _itch_ to get her something—which was completely stupid because, as he perfectly well knew, _she_ was going out with his stupid roommate.

But the _itch_, it cannot be ignored.

So that day, the Monday before the blasted day (who was the idiot that came up with it anyway?), which happened to fall on a Friday, he ordered a box of chocolates from Honeydukes. It was the very best kind—the kind which she would crinkle her cute nose in disapproval at if she ever learned of the price. But he could not resist it. He wanted to give her the very best. Well, he wasn't sure if he was really going to give it (there was the boyfriend problem, the brother problem, and the she-does-not-like-me-back problem), but he ordered it anyway—just in case.

The chocolates arrived during breakfast on Thursday with the rest of the owl post. Thankfully, Honeydukes had the foresight to wrap it in unassuming brown paper, thus he was able to avoid scrutiny from his friends. Maybe Honeydukes gets a lot of orders from blokes who had the she-has-a-boyfriend problem, her-brother-is-my-best-friend problem, or she-used-to-fancy-me-but-not-anymore problem. When he opened the package later that night however, he realized that Honeydukes had made the mistake of sending him not one, but _three_ boxes of chocolate. Knowing that he couldn't do anything about it, he decided to keep the other two boxes for himself.

He fell asleep that night dreaming of her, fantasizing about strangling her boyfriend, questioning his sanity, and planning what he was going to do on Friday, _February fourteen_.

**

Harry woke up unusually early on Valentine's Day. It was all part of the plan. A particularly clever plan, if he might say so himself. Just handing her the chocolates was obviously out of the question. Ron could pummel him, and Dean could get Seamus' help and corner him in a deserted hallway. Not that he was too concerned about that. He could take them on, and it would give him an excuse to strangle Dean. What he was really worried about was that she could reject the chocolates, a notion that was at once mortifying and heart-breaking. But if she did not know who the chocolates were from, she'd have no one to reject (_ha_!).

Harry slowly got out of bed and got dressed. He took out a box of Honeydukes' finest from his trunk and, wrapping his Invisibility Cloak around himself, he headed for the common room. He knew, from months of watching her, that Ginny always sat at a particular spot near the fireplace every morning while waiting for her friends (or Dean the blithering idiot) to come down to breakfast with her. He made his way to the spot in question and placed the box of chocolates on the table in front of her favorite armchair. He then sat on the floor nearby (he could not risk being sat on if he chose to take one of the chairs) and waited, invisible, for her to come down. The idea was for her to find the chocolates and hope that she would take it. He knew there were massive loopholes in the plan (but it was still really clever), but he was crossing his fingers.

More than half an hour had passed and several other students had come down from the dormitories when a certain redhead ambled sleepily down the stairs. This redhead, unfortunately, was _not_ Ginny.

Harry watched with mounting panic as Ron made his way towards him and took the seat nearest Ginny's favorite armchair. Ron yawned widely and then, to Harry's horror, he spotted the box of chocolates on the table in front of him. His eyes eagerly lit up at the sight of food.

Ron looked around surreptitiously before grabbing the box of chocolates. Harry thought quickly. He had to prevent Ron from eating the chocolates. But how was he going to tell Ron that he wanted to give it to Ginny? The answer was simple: he wasn't. He would just tell Ron that the chocolate was his. That's it, no further explanation.

Harry was about to reveal his presence and take the chocolates away from Ron when Lavender came bounding down the girls' staircase, spotted Ron holding the box of chocolates, and squealed, "Oh, _Won-Won_, is that for me?"

And Ron, dumb prat that he was, turned to face Lavender and said, "Er…yeah?"

_Noooooooo!_ Harry screamed in his head.

"Awwww," Lavender shrieked in delight, taking Ginny's chocolates from Ron, who was wearing a 'what-just-happened' expression on his face.

_No!_ Harry thought again.

He watched helplessly as Lavender opened the box of chocolates and put the smallest one in her mouth. She took another one and fed it to Ron, who still looked like he had not processed what just happened.

_No, no, no, no, no, no…._

Harry ran his hand through his hair and tried to pull it out. He could not believe it. But there it was, happening right in front of him. Ginny's chocolates, being eaten by Lavender Brown, of all people! He wanted to cry out in frustration.

Later that morning, Harry ate his breakfast with a heavy heart. He joined Hermione in shooting murderous glares at Ron and Lavender. His best friend was really such a gigantic prat sometimes. He could not believe Ron just gave those chocolates to Lavender. It was Ginny's! It was special—'Honeydukes' finest', the label said. He, Harry, bought it for Ginny. And now, Lavender was the one eating them.

He groaned in frustration as he thought about it. The chocolates he had bought for Ginny had ended up in Lavender's hands. And to top it all off, Hermione was incredibly annoyed that Ron 'gave' chocolates to Lavender for Valentine's Day. She kept muttering under her breath, complaining about the timing of Ron's supposed thoughtfulness.

Tired of Hermione's grumblings, Harry turned to her and said:

"The chocolates weren't really from Ron, you know," he told her.

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"It was mine," replied Harry. "I left it on the table and Ron took it. Then Lavender saw him holding it and she thought it was for her. And then Ron just sort of gave it to her before I could stop him," he finished, not disguising the annoyance in his voice.

Hermione stared at him, looking slightly happier than she had all morning. Harry smiled reassuringly at her, glad that he could at least make her feel better. Hermione, however, gave him a slight frown.

"Why did Ron give it to Lavender if it was yours?" she asked suspiciously. "Why didn't you correct Lavender? Or stop Ron, for that matter."

"Oh, er, I was, er, hiding, you see," Harry said guiltily. "Ron didn't know it was mine. I was, er, I was under my cloak."

He realized his mistake as soon as he said it.

"Why were you hiding?" Hermione asked curiously. She fell silent for a second and then, "Why did you have that kind of chocolate anyway? That's for—"

Hermione stopped, her hand flying over her mouth as she fixed Harry with a probing gaze. Harry quickly looked away, blushing. Hermione continued to stare at him, boring holes into his brain. Harry tried to ignore her and focused on his breakfast.

"Harry," Hermione began after a moment. "Which table did you leave your chocolates on?"

If possible, Harry turned even redder. _Why_? Why was Hermione so smart?

"It's not important," he replied shortly.

"Harry—"

"Drop it, Hermione," he half-pleaded, half-demanded.

Thankfully, Hermione heeded him. She turned back to her breakfast, but she kept glancing at him with an amazed look on her face. Harry sighed inwardly. He had never really liked Ron's relationship with Lavender. He put up with it because Ron was his best friend. But now, not only were they scandalizing the whole of Hogwarts, they were also ruining his plans. Lavender eating Ginny's chocolates! It was enough to make him want to tear Ron and Lavender apart right at that moment. But he could not dwell on that.

He was just glad that he had two extra boxes of Honeydukes' finest. Maybe Honeydukes had not made a mistake, after all. Maybe Honeydukes' foresight extended further than the choice for a wrapping paper. Now, all he needed to do was push through with Plan B—whatever Plan B was.

Harry came up with Plan B during lunch. He rather thought it was a much cleverer plan than the first one. And this time, he would take steps to ensure that Ron, Lavender, or anyone else for that matter, would not end up having it. He left the Great Hall early and headed for Gryffindor tower. Once there, he climbed up to his dormitory and took the second box of Honeydukes' finest from his trunk. He wrapped the box of chocolates with a glittery pink paper which he found lying around in the common room. He had figured earlier that if he wrapped the chocolates, Ron or anyone else would not take it for themselves. He had found a red wrapping paper, but he thought that pink would be more effective than red in making Ron back off.

Several minutes later, Harry was again wearing his Invisibility Cloak as he made his way to the Charms classroom. Lunch break had not yet ended, so the classroom was still empty. He placed the box of chocolates on Ginny's table—he knew which one it was because he always made sure to pass the corridor outside whenever the fifth years have their Charms class. He had a free period right after lunch so Harry waited in the nearest corner, making sure that every part of him was covered by his cloak.

He had been standing in the corner for a good five minutes when another idea came to him. He felt around his school robes and found a quill and a roll of parchment in his right pocket. His Invisibility Cloak was too cumbersome so he took it off. He tore a neat rectangle out from the parchment and wrote the words '_To Ginny_' using his left hand. It looked ugly, but at least no one will recognize his handwriting. He then charmed the parchment to stick to the pink box of chocolates and hurriedly wrapped his cloak around him. A second later, Colin entered the Charms classroom followed by none other than Ginny.

Harry grinned widely, feeling triumphant at what he had accomplished. He was certain that Ginny would get her chocolates. He sighed, enjoying the freedom of staring at her without the fear of getting caught. She was wearing her school robes, but she still managed to look sexy. He had no idea how she did it, but he liked it. She had a bit of a smile on her face and her brown eyes twinkled in amusement as she listened to Colin chatter about a spell he had mastered. She ran her hands over the chairs and tables as she headed towards her usual place. Harry could not help but be mesmerized by this simple gesture. It seemed that whatever she did, she brought a certain kind of grace to it.

"Hey Ginny, look, I think this is for you," Colin called excitedly.

Harry reluctantly tore his eyes away from Ginny and looked at Colin. He had reached his place near Ginny's and was now holding up the box of chocolates to her.

"Is it from Dean?" Colin asked teasingly as he handed the box to Ginny.

_No!_ Harry thought desperately. _It's not from Dean!_ But what if Ginny thought it was from Dean. Why did Colin have to say that, anyway? How could it be from Dean? That was—

"It's not for me, Colin," Ginny said calmly.

Harry frowned, confused.

"What are you talking about?" said Colin. "It was on your table."

"Yeah, but it says here 'Ted Gwyneth'," replied Ginny, taking her seat and placing the box of chocolates at the far end of her table.

Harry's jaw dropped. _Ted Gwyneth_? He thought incredulously. And then it hit him. He had inadvertently used one of Fred and George's Spell-Check Quill and its charm had now run out. Harry groaned at his own stupidity.

"What do you think it is?" asked Colin.

"Well, it's obviously a Valentine's present for some Ted Gwyneth," replied Ginny. "Maybe he forgot to take it with him."

Colin grabbed the box of chocolates, held it close to his ear, and gave it a vigorous shake. Harry's jaw dropped again, this time in indignation at what Colin was doing to Ginny's chocolates.

"Colin, what are you doing?" asked Ginny.

"I'm trying to figure out what's in it," replied Colin, sounding as though this was the appropriate thing to do.

Ginny gave an indignant huff and grabbed the box from Colin's hands. "Honestly," she said in exasperation. "This is a Valentine's gift to someone—"

Harry nodded fervently, forgetting that he was invisible to Ginny and Colin.

"—leave it alone," she continued, placing the box yet again at the far end of her table.

"Who do you think this Ted Gwyneth bloke is?" Colin asked curiously as he sat beside Ginny.

"I dunno," Ginny replied with a shrug. "Probably some first year Hufflepuff. Their class is right before lunch—what are you doing _now_?" she asked in exasperation as Colin started poking the box of chocolates with his wand.

"Lucky bloke," commented Colin, ignoring Ginny's question. "First year and he's already got a Valentine's present," he added as he continued to poke the box with his wand.

"Colin, don't—"

The rest of Ginny's sentence was cut off as the pink box suddenly imploded, then burst into flames. Ginny and Colin stared at it for a moment, the shocked expression on their faces perfectly mirroring Harry's.

_Oh no_, Harry thought in frustration, _not again_.

Ginny recovered a second before Colin did. She quickly took out her wand and put out the fire. She then turned to Colin and looked accusingly at him. Colin looked back sheepishly.

_I am going to kill you, Colin_, Harry thought darkly.

"You are so dead, Colin," said Ginny, though she did not share Harry's indignation. In fact her mouth was twitching upwards into a smirk.

Colin blanched. He looked back at Ginny, silently pleading her to keep quiet. Harry could tell that she was fighting the urge to burst out laughing. Her face was impassive, but he could see it in the twinkle of mirth in her eyes. Unable to help herself, Ginny gave in to her mirth and began laughing heartily. Colin joined in a second later, though his laughter sounded nervous. It was at that moment that Professor Flitwick chose to walk in, followed by the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years.

"Quick, quick," whispered Ginny. "Hide it."

She hurriedly took the box of (probably melted) chocolates and shoved it unceremoniously into the space under her table. Harry sighed inwardly, giving the second box up as a lost cause. Watching Ginny laughing quietly, he decided that it was worth it. But he still wanted to give her the chocolates.

_Right_, he thought resolutely, _on to Plan C_.

Plan C was actually pretty simple. Harry had no idea why he hadn't thought of it earlier. It would have saved him from all the trouble he'd been through. But, as he had realized months ago, his common sense always leapt out the window when it came to Ginny.

That evening, Harry waited in the Gryffindor common room with the last box of Honeydukes' finest safely placed in his bag. It was just before dinnertime and he knew that Ginny always dropped by to rest for a bit. He also knew that Ginny would take some of her school books up to her dormitory while leaving her bag in the common room.

Harry sat at a group of chairs by the fireplace. Ron was sitting near the window, playing tongue fencing with Lavender. Hermione, as was usual when Ron and Lavender were snogging in the common room, was nowhere to be found. As for Dean, Harry had no idea where he was but Harry hoped Ginny would arrive before he did. Ginny would most likely sit with Dean if the idiot was around. Without Dean, however, Harry was sure that Ginny would sit with him.

It soon became apparent that for once, luck was on Harry's side that day. He had been waiting for about fifteen minutes when Ginny stepped through the portrait hole with some of her classmates. Spotting Harry, she made a beeline towards him as her classmates went up to their dormitories. Harry felt his heart leap to his throat.

"Hi, Ginny," he greeted, trying his best to sound casual.

"Hey," she greeted pleasantly, dropping her bag on the floor as she slumped on to the nearest seat.

Ginny sunk into her seat and closed her eyes, a contented smile playing across her lips. Harry stared openly at her, forgetting to worry about getting caught.

"It's so nice to relax by the fire after a long day of classes," Ginny commented after a while, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah," agreed Harry, thinking about how relaxing it was to just stare at her.

Ginny's eyes fluttered open, and Harry quickly averted his gaze.

"You won't believe what Colin did at Charms today," she told him, amusement evident in her voice.

Harry swallowed hard before replying. "What'd he do?" he asked, though he already knew about it.

Ginny went on to relate about Colin destroying the Valentine's present to the non-existent (though, of course, Ginny did not know this) 'Ted Gwyneth'. By the time she finished, Harry was laughing loudly. He had been there to witness the whole thing happen, but somehow, Ginny made it funnier by her impression of Colin's expressions. What was even more hilarious was that she and Colin had then made an exact duplicate of the pink box. They had no idea what was inside the original box so they placed a packet of Every Flavor Beans in it instead, along with a note of apology. The box, Ginny said, was still on her table in the Charms classroom, waiting for 'Ted Gwyneth'. Harry wondered what her reaction would be when she went back to the Charms classroom and saw the box untouched.

All too soon, Ginny decided to take her things to her dormitory. As Harry had expected, she took some of her stuff from her bag and headed for the girls' staircase. Harry knew she left the other stuff for her OWL revision later. As soon as Ginny was out of sight, Harry hurriedly grabbed her bag and placed it on the table in front of him. He was about to take the box of chocolates from his own bag when Ginny came back, still carrying her things. She had most probably forgotten something.

Harry froze, his heart thumping wildly as blood rose to his cheeks. His eyes strayed to Ginny's bag, hoping that she won't notice that it was already on the table instead of on the floor.

"Oh, thanks for putting it on the table, Harry," she said gratefully. "But I've just remembered, I'll not be revising tonight," she added cheerfully as she grabbed her bag from the table.

"Oh," said Harry, his shoulders slumping in defeat. How was he supposed to give the chocolates to her now?

"I'll be right back," she told him, and Harry's spirits lifted up. At least he could hang out with her for a while longer.

Harry's mood was dampened by the arrival of Dean Thomas, who immediately approached Ginny when she got back from her dormitory. Ginny and Dean bid Harry goodbye and left for the Great Hall together. Harry thought that Ginny didn't look too happy, although that might have been his overactive and over-hopeful imagination working.

Not wanting to walk right behind Ginny and Dean as he headed for the Great Hall, Harry waited several minutes more before leaving the common room and going down to dinner. He saw Hermione already sitting at the Gryffindor table and he joined her. He caught her expression and saw that she looked as miserable as he felt. He immediately felt guilty, knowing that part of the reason for Lavender's increased enthusiasm in snogging Ron (already high on normal days), was because of the chocolates Ron had 'given' her.

"It's not your fault," said Hermione, apparently realizing what Harry was thinking about. "I'm not mad at you. Ron's just an idiot."

Harry nodded. Hermione said nothing further. The rest of the meal passed in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. After dinner, they walked back to the common room together.

Seeing Ron and Lavender already (or is it 'still'?) snogging in one corner, Hermione immediately walked up towards the girls' dormitories. Looking around, Harry realized that Ginny and Dean were not in the common room. He frowned, thinking that they were probably getting cozy in some broom cupboard. He sat on his usual chair by the fireplace and, because he was a masochist, waited for Ginny and Dean to come back while he started on his Defense homework.

It was already a quarter before ten o'clock when Ginny and Dean burst into the common room, hand in hand and looking like they'd had a good snog, which, Harry thought darkly, they probably had. Harry felt his insides squirm as a coldness spread around his body, starting from his gut.

Ginny caught his eyes and Harry saw her smile fading slightly (or maybe it was just his imagination again). She turned back to Dean and they spoke quietly for a while. Harry watched them out of the corner of his eyes. A moment later, Dean nodded his head and kissed Ginny. He then headed for the boys' dormitories as Ginny climbed up the girls' staircase.

Harry buried his head in his hands as he tried to squash the hurt that was bubbling up inside him. _What the hell was I thinking_? He thought miserably. What made him think that giving Ginny chocolates was a good idea? She clearly did not need it. She clearly did not want a Valentine's gift—not from him. She had a boyfriend, for Merlin's sakes. And now, she had gone to bed, and Harry won't ever have the chance to give her Honeydukes' finest. _Why_ did he have to buy those stupid chocolates anyway?

Remembering that he still had a box in his bag, Harry took it out and opened it. He absently popped a small piece into his mouth, hoping that it would take away his misery the way it drove away the coldness caused by a Dementor. He ate two more pieces before tossing the box unceremoniously on to the table. He decided that he might as well continue his Defense essay—maybe it could make him forget what just happened.

Harry had barely written another paragraph on his essay when Ginny came back down the girls' staircase, carrying her book bag. He stared longingly at her, wondering if he would ever have a chance.

"I've just realized that we have practice tomorrow," she told him. "Hermione will kill me if I don't finish my Transfiguration essay by Sunday," she added, rolling her eyes. "And I won't have time to do it tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," said Harry.

He immediately turned back to his Defense essay. He was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check at the moment and he was afraid that Ginny would see just how much she meant to him if she saw his face. Ginny took the seat across from him and placed her bag on the floor nearby. She took out a quill, several rolls of parchment, and her Transfiguration book from her bag and placed the items on the table. And then, as though in slow motion, Harry saw her hand hovering over the box of Honeydukes' finest. She picked a rectangular shaped chocolate and slowly brought it to her mouth. Harry stared at her, his mouth falling open.

"Oh, you don't mind, do you?" she asked in a slightly sheepish tone, the chocolate hovering inches from her lips.

"No!" Harry said quickly, tearing his eyes away from her lips. He shook his head vigorously to emphasize his point. "Absolutely not! Go ahead, take it," he added eagerly, pushing the box of chocolates towards her. "It's—it's all yours."

Ginny put the rectangular chocolate in her mouth. For a brief moment, Harry wished he was the chocolate.

"What about you?" she asked curiously.

"I'm—I'm stuffed," he lied.

Ginny smiled at him, and he felt all his hurt disappear. "Thanks, Harry," she said in that easy way of hers. "But I think we should share it."

Harry smiled back at her, not quite believing his luck. The whole day he was agonizing about how to give a box of chocolates to Ginny while remaining anonymous. And now, here he was. Ginny was thanking him and as if that wasn't enough, she was saying that they should share the chocolates. Maybe he had been insane in buying those chocolates. But, he realized, something good could come out of insanity. After all, he was ending his day with Ginny. And they were sharing a box of Honeydukes' finest.

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**AN:** Please Review guys... It makes a writer's day. :D


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